Banging trays in family performances, the role of theatre in instigating social change, and the comfiness of Rufus Norris’ chair. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring the National Theatre’s Director of Public Acts, Emily Lim. About Emily LimEmily Lim is a director whose work explores theatre making as a form of community building and radical joy. She works with professional and community artists in settings ranging from schools and theatres to community centres and international festivals. Directing credits include The Enormous Crocodile (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre & Leeds Playhouse), Pericles (National Theatre), Brainstorm (co-director, National Theatre & Park Theatre), We're Here Because We're Here (with Jeremy Deller & Rufus Norris, 1418 Now) and Yoko Ono's Bells for Peace (Manchester International Festival). Since 2017 she has been the Director of Public Acts, the National Theatre's flagship community programme, leading on the creation of large-scale community productions. Most recently she directed The Odyssey: The Underworldat the National Theatre, the fifth instalment of a five part nationwide production, which featured a company of 160 people drawn from all across the country. She is a trustee of The Koreo Foundation and an Associate of the National Theatre where she was awarded the inaugural Peter Hall Directing Award in 2016. 

Opening cans of Lilt at inappropriate times, auditioning to play himself, and adapting John Willard’s The Cat and the Canary for the Idiot’s brand new co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring celebrated writer Carl Grose. About Carl GroseCarl Grose’s plays include Grand Guignol, Superstition Mountain, Gargantua, Horse Piss For Blood, The Kneebone Cadillac, 49 Donkeys Hanged and The No-Brainer. For twenty four years he worked with the internationally acclaimed Cornish theatre company, Kneehigh, as both actor, writer and co-artistic director alongside founder Mike Shepherd. Writing for Kneehigh includes Tristan & Yseult (with Anna Maria Murphy), Blast!, Hansel & Gretel, The Wild Bride, The Tin Drum, based on the novel by Gunter Grass, Ubu! a singalong satire and Dead Dog In A Suitcase (and other love songs). Other writing includes Wormy Close (Soho Theatre), Faust (Vesturport/Young Vic), The 13 Midnight Challenges of Angelus Diablo (RSC at Latitude), The Hartlepool Monkey (Gyre and Gimble), Oedipussy and The Frogs for Spymonkey, and Robin Hood for Regent’s Park. He has also worked with Told By An Idiot on various shows including The Dark Philosophers (National Theatre of Wales), Never Try This At Home (Birmingham Rep / Soho Theatre) and, most recently, the comedy thriller, The Cat and the Canary (Chichester Theatre).    He also wrote the book and co-authored lyrics for Bristol Old Vic’s cult musical, The Grinning Man as well as writing Princess & Peppernose, a musical fantasy short film for Samsung, produced by Ridley Scott Associates and directed by Joe Wright. Coming soon… Insidious – The Further You Fear, a theatre show based on the Sony / Blumhouse hit horror film franchise, which will tour America next year.

Early days as the Artful Dodger, landing their first professional theatre job in Cowbois ahead of graduating from LAMDA, and confusion over prices at Betty’s Tea Rooms. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring the exciting actor Lee Braithwaite.  About Lee BraithwaiteLee is an actor originally from Harrogate in Yorkshire. They made their debut in Cowbois at the RSC which went on to transfer to the Royal Court and have since been in Laughing Boy at Jermyn Street Theatre. They are currently rehearsing for The Other Place by Alex Zeldin at the National Theatre. They also have an exciting role in a new film We Live in Time, directed by John Crowley starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield coming out in the UK on 1st January 2025. 

Making oyster costumes for her primary school classmates, giving Tilda Swinton her first job, and hiding behind gym mats when visiting Simon McBurney at Lecoq. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring acclaimed director, performer and co-founder of the International theatre company Complicité; Annabel Arden.About Annabel ArdenAnnabel Arden’s  career encompasses opera, theatre and broadcasting as well as acting and devising new work. In 1983 Annabel was a co-founder of the International theatre company Complicité. In 2020 Annabel made her debut at the Schaubühne, Berlin co-directing - with Simon McBurney - a new adaption of the Kleist novel Michael Kohlhaas and she stepped behind the camera to direct a film of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale for the Hallé Orchestra with Sir Mark Elder. Her most recent Opera production is Aïda for The Royal Danish Opera and she will direct a radical version of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman this winter at Opera North. In 2023 she was associate director for Omar Elerian’s As You Like It at the RSC and she was also associate for The Merchant of Venice or Merchant 36 starring Tracy Ann Oberman. Annabel teaches in a variety of contexts, for Complicite, in drama schools, Opera Houses and in the corporate sector. She studied at Cambridge and in Paris with Monika Pagneux, Philippe Gaulier and Jacques Lecoq. 

Growing up in a west Yorkshire village with an annual lantern making festival, resisting putting herself in a box, and directing The Duchess of Malfi, the first show to utilise creative captioning in the Sam Wanamaker at Shakespeare's Globe. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets, I've Had A Few with award winning Director and Unicorn Theatre Artistic Director, Rachel Bagshaw.About Rachel BagshawRachel is an award-winning stage director.  She was recently appointed Artistic Director of Unicorn Theatre having been their Associate Director from 2018 to 2023.  She is also an Associate at the National Theatre as a recipient of the Peter Hall Bursary for 2023/24.Recent productions include The Duchess of Malfi (The Globe); The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse (Unicorn Theatre); A Dead Body in Taos (Bristol Old Vic/ Wilton’s Music Hall); Augmented by Sophie Woolley (Royal Exchange/Told by an Idiot); Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales and Greek Myths Unplugged, Let Loose (with Choreographer Arielle Smith, co-produced with English National Ballet); for Unicorn Theatre Online. Other theatre credits include Midnight Movie (Royal Court Theatre); The Bee in Me and Aesop’s Fables (Unicorn Theatre); Resonance at the Still Point of Change (Unlimited Festival, South Bank Centre); The Rhinestone Rollers and Just Me, Bell (Graeae).  Her critically acclaimed work The Shape of Pain won a Fringe First at Edinburgh and was revived at Battersea Arts Centre in 2018.  Film credits includes Let Loose (Unicorn Theatre Online/ENB) and Where I Go (When I Can’t be Where I Am (BBC/China Plate).

The magic of the ‘drama barn’, collaborating with a pre Blasted Sarah Kane, and the joys of being a Fulham fan - All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring acclaimed director, Sean Holmes.About Sean HolmesSean is currently Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe. Before this he was the Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith. Sean was an Associate Director of the Oxford Stage Company from 2001 to 2006 and has also worked at the National Theatre, RSC, Tricycle, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.Theatre includes:  Cowbois (RSC); The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Hamlet, Metamorphoses, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Henry VI, Richard III (Shakespeare's Globe); The Cherry Orchard, Death of a Salesman, Fortune (PARCO Theatre Tokyo/Japan tour); The Seagull, Terror, Shopping and Fucking, Bugsy Malone, Herons, Secret Theatre Shows 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7, Cinderella, Desire Under the Elms, Morning, Have I None, Saved, Blasted, A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky, Three Sisters, Comedians (Lyric Hammersmith); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lyric Hammersmith/UK tour/Manchester Royal Exchange/Brisbane Festival/Dublin International Festival); Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith/Duke of York’s/Liverpool Playhouse/Panasonic, Toronto/Arts Theatre); The Plough and the Stars (Abbey, Dublin/Irish/USA tour).Awards include: Have I None, Saved, Blasted was winner of the Olivier Award in 2011 for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

A shared love of Aston Villa, the joys of improvisation and a late submission to the prestigious Bruntwood Prize which proved very fruitful. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring actor and award winning writer, Nathan Queeley-Dennis.About Nathan Quelled-DennisNathan is an award winning writer and actor from Birmingham, as a writer he is the winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022 with his Debut play Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023 to widespread critical acclaim with Nathan being chosen by The Stage as one of the Fringe Five, Off Fest nominated, Playbill, WhatsOnStage and TimeOut's best shows of Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to the Royal Court Theatre in London. As an Actor Nathan's credits include Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz (Royal Court); As You Like It (@sohoplace); Black Love (Kiln); A Taste Of Honey (National Theatre); Really Big and Really Loud (Paines Plough/UK Tour); Rebel Music (Middle Child); Little Baby Jesus (Birmingham REP); Pinocchio (Orange Tree); An Oak Tree (Francesca Moody Productions) and Doctors (BBC)"  

The inspiration of Footsbarn on his early theatre making, getting arrested at the end of the first ever Kneehigh show and not being a great believer in giving advice. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring founder and former Artistic Director of the celebrated Kneehigh, Mike Shepherd. About Mike ShepherdMike Shepherd founded Kneehigh in 1980 and remained “roughly in the middle of things” for 40 years. As an actor, teacher and director, Mike has toured the world and is a pioneer of the Asylum; a large-scale mobile venue dedicated to a good night out! 

Almost embarking on a boxing career, wanting to be the Artful Dodger as a child and their recent critically acclaimed production of 'Cowbois' (which stars our AD Paul Hunter). All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring celebrated writer and actor Charlie Josephine. About Charlie JosephineCharlie is a writer, director and actor. Charlie’s 2023 work includes: Cowbois (Royal Shakespeare Company); I, Joan (Shakespeare's Globe); Flies (Shoreditch Town Hall); Birds and Bees (Sheffield Crucible); One of Them Ones (Pentabus). Amongst Charlie’s previous work, Bitch Boxer won the Soho Theatre Young Writers Award 2012, The Old Vic New Voices Edinburgh Season 2012, the Holden Street Theatre’s Award 2013, and the Adelaide Fringe Award 2014. Charlie’s play Blush enjoyed a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it picked up The Stage Edinburgh Award 2016, before touring nationally.  Their play Pops enjoyed a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival 2019 and then High Tide Festival. Charlie spent 2019 as a member of The Old Vic 12, and also wrote a new play Moon Licks for Paines Plough and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, which was performed at The Yard in June 2022.For screen work, Charlie won the inaugural BBC Screenplay First Award, and in March 2017 was named on the BBC New Talent Hotlist. They are currently writer-in-residence at Headlong Theatre.

From their first encounters as a ‘dude’ of a teacher with a trademark leather jacket, a ‘sophisticated’ student joining Middlesex Poly en route from a summer working in France and a ‘short bloke from Birmingham’, our three co-founders John Wright, Hayley Carmichael and Paul Hunter recount the last 30 years of Told by an Idiot. In this Christmas special of  Regrets I’ve Had A Few, expect discussions on the Idiot approach to theatre making, the importance of never being boring and Hayley recalling various hilarious stories involving issues with doors. 

Learning to do flips in the playground at school, his choreographic inspirations and playing Agent Smith in Danny Boyle's mind blowing stage re-boot of the Matrix. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring dancer and choreographer, Mikey Ureta. About Mikey UretaMikey Ureta is a dance artist based in London. He has been working professionally around the world for the past 11 years and has been active in the industry as a performer, choreographer, teacher and mentor. His theatre credits include: Groove on Down the Road, The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, and Into the Hoods: Remixed (all ZooNation); Get Happy (Told by an Idiot, Beijing Comedy Arts Festival and Barbican); Blaze The Show (Expo 2016, Turkey); Chase The Dream: The Reboot (Flawless); and Pied Piper (Boy Blue). Other credits include: Finalist on Got To Dance with Boyband (Sky One); Finalist on Britain’s Got Talent with Boyband (ITV); appearances with Stormzy (Reading and Leeds, BRIT Awards, Glastonbury); and adverts for Google Pixel 4 and Gucci x GQ China. 

An unmatched admiration of Cats the Musical, the role of persona in her work and “having a good idea and doing it”. All of this and more is discussed in this month’s episode of Regrets I’ve Had A Few, featuring one of the UK’s most charismatic performers and theatre makers, Lucy McCormick. ABOUT LUCY MCCORMICK:Lucy McCormick makes nightclub interruptions, cabaret interventions and extravaganza theatre shows, marrying interests in absurdity, feminism and the grotesque.  Her practice is cross-genre, taking inspiration from theatre, performance art, comedy and dance. Lucy is a Research Fellow at Queen Mary University, an associate artist of Hackney Showroom and the current artist-in-residence at Soho Theatre. She teaches and mentors regularly at universities and arts organisations including Central School of Speech and Drama, Roehampton University, Soho Theatre and National Theatre Studio.  Lucy works as an actor and has appeared in several theatre plays and on screen. She recently starred as Catherine in Emma Rice's Wuthering Heights and the RSC production of Titus Andronicus at The Globe Theatre. She is currently in rehearsals for the RSC production of Charlie Josephine’s Cowbois.   www.lucymccormick.com

The beginning of his career as Alan Rickman’s follow spot operator, being referred to as a grubby thruster by an Equity councillor and his tenures as Artistic Director at both the Bush Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth. All of this and more is discussed in our 30th episode of Regrets I've Had A Few, in our 30th year, featuring celebrated Director, Simon Stokes. About Simon StokesSimon became an Artistic Director at the Bush Theatre in London from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s. A new play specialist, he developed and directed many of our now celebrated playwrights and performers.The Bush also worked with a wide range of independent theatre companies including such as the People Show, Phantom Captain, Paines Plough, Hull Truck, the Women’s Theatre Group, Gay Sweatshop and Black Theatre Co-op.In the 1990s he was Artistic Associate and Director of Development for Howard Panter’s Turnstyle Group, developing new plays for production in the West End.As a freelancer, he directed in Germany, Switzerland, Israel and the USA as well in the UK.As a director some of his most highly profiled work has included Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Bush with Simon Callow and Mark Rylance, When I Was A Girl I Used to Scream and Shout by Sharman Macdonald at the Bush; the Edinburgh International Festival and the West End with, variously, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Geraldine James and Dawn French; A Slip of the Tongue by Dusty Hughes with John Malkovich and Ingeborga Dapkunaite; The Green Man by Doug Lucie with Phil Daniels and Danny Webb; and Monster Raving Loony by James Graham at the Drum Theatre Plymouth and Soho Theatre.As Artistic Director at the Theatre Royal Plymouth from 1998 to 2018 he turned the Drum, a large studio space, into another nationally noticed theatre, winning many plaudits. He again followed a programming strategy of mixing Drum productions with visiting companies and developed several distinctive coproducing relationships with companies like Frantic Assembly, Ontroerend Goed, Paines Plough and Told by an Idiot.  

Celebrating his 5th birthday with TV legends Sooty and Sweep, his interest in directing Tom Hanks on stage and his recent appointment as Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets I've Had A Few featuring award-winning Director, Justin Audibert.

The audition process for Kate and Koji, throwing custard pies at Latitude Festival and his dad's need for all electricity to be off overnight interfering with his brothers' need to record late night Jackie Chan films. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets I've Had A Few featuring stage and screen actor, Okorie Chukwu.

Learning about hard graft through working in a sweet shop in Elephant and Castle, coming second to the League of Gentlemen for a coveted Total Theatre Award and her preference of canal boats over caravans. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets I've Had A Few featuring the New Vic Theatre’s Olivier Award winning Artistic Director, Theresa Heskins.About Theresa HeskinsTheresa Heskins is the Artistic Director of Staffordshire’s New Vic Theatre.She grew up in London, studied at Oxford University, trained as a director at Birmingham Rep on the RTYDS scheme, and has lived and worked in the Midlands ever since.In 1999 Theresa became Artistic Director of Pentabus Theatre, touring new writing to the whole country from the company’s base on a Ludlow farm. Productions included White Open Spaces, asking ‘is there a silent apartheid in the countryside?’, co-created with BBC Radio Drama and nominated for a South Bank Show Award; and Silent Engine, in association with the National Theatre Studio and recipient of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First.Joining the New Vic Theatre as Artistic Director in 2007, she has directed numerous productions in the round including Alecky Blythe’s verbatim documentary Where Have I Been All My Life?; Around the World in 80 Days which won London Book Week’s Best Adaptation and transferred to New York; The Snow Queen, which won Best Show for Children and Young People at the UK Theatre Awards.In the West End she directed the Olivier Award winner The Worst Witch and Marvellous, the opening production @sohoplace.Theresa also writes, including adapting Wives and Daughters and Lady Audley’s Secret for BBC Woman’s Hour.  Her adaptations of classic children’s literature including Alice in Wonderland have been revived all over the UK and the world.

Living in a van during the early days of Kneehigh, her time on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, and memories of her father cleaning the kitchen floor in his pants. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets I've Had A Few featuring stage and screen actor Mary Woodvine.About Mary WoodvineMary Woodvine is an Actress based in West Cornwall. She has an extensive career in Theatre, Film and Television. She was a core member of Kneehigh Theatre from 1991, and has performed at The Royal National Theatre, the RSC and at the iconic Minack Theatre on the cliffs at Porthcurno. She plays the lead in Mark Jenkin’s latest film Enys Men, which premiered in Cannes 2022, she also played Sandra Leigh in Jenkin’s BAFTA winning film BAIT in 2019. Other film credits include Intruders dir Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Television credits include: Judge John Deed (BBC) (Dame Morag Hughes), Poldark (Mrs Teague), Eastenders, Casualty, Doc Martin (Mrs Cronk), Our Friends in the North, Grafters, and Officer Took in Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct.

A childhood heckle in defence of the Queen, a love of eccentric dance and working with some of theatre's all time greats. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets I've Had A Few featuring award winning actor, director and writer, Simon Callow.

Being on the committee of the school film club, adapting and reinventing works for other forms, and his preference of crime over punishment. All of this and more is discussed in this month's episode of Regrets I've Had A Few featuring acclaimed writer, Will Eaves.

Jerone Marsh-Reid trained on the Physical Theatre course at East 15 Acting School. Theatre credits include:  Marvellous (@sohoplace); 4 Walls (Derby Theatre); Marvellous (New Victoria Theatre Newcastle); Charlie and Stan / The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel (Told by an Idiot ); The Deep (Clifftown Theatre); The Things I’ve Dismissed (Clifftown Theatre, Project Lockout); Feel The Fear (Camden Fringe / Fusion Festival, Project Lockout); Mood (Clifftown Theatre); Breathe The Beat (UK Tour).Outdoor Arts include:  Catch Me (Upswing, European Tour); Get Happy (Told by an Idiot).Films and Music videos include: 7 Deadly Idiots (Told by an Idiot); Still Got Time (Zayn Malik Ft PartyNextDoor); Not Letting Go (Tinie Tempah and Jess Glynne); You Want Me (Tom Zinneti); Maybe? (The Beach); Fam That’s Peak (Arnold Jorge and Stormzy).

Matthew Dunster is a theatre and film director and writer. He was born and raised in Oldham and now lives in South East London. Previously an actor, he has directed or written over sixty shows, often with major national companies (including RSC, NT, Royal Court, Young Vic, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Bridge), as well as directing on the West End, Broadway and internationally. He has been the Associate Director of The Young Vic and Shakespeare's Globe.His most recent productions are 2:22 A Ghost Story which has been running in the West End since August 2021, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the inaugural Shakespeare production at the new Shakespeare North Playhouse. Matthew has been nominated for three Olivier Awards and his Broadway production of HANGMEN was nominated for five Tony’s.

Over the past 25 years Tanika Gupta has written over 25 stage plays that have been produced in major theatres across the UK and has written extensively for BBC Radio drama. Tanika’s plays The Empress and her adaptation of A Doll’s House are on the National Curriculum in the UK for GSCE school examinations.Theatre credits include: Out West and A Doll’s House (Lyric Hammersmith); Lions And Tigers (Wanamaker Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe); Red Dust Road (National Theatre Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival); A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (Hull Truck Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe –Dramaturg); Anita and Me (Birmingham Rep); Love N Stuff (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Empress (Royal Shakespeare Company); Wah! Wah! Girls - A British Bollywood Musical (Sadler’s Wells); Mindwalking (Bandbazi Theatre); Great Expectations (Watford Palace Theatre/English Touring Theatre); Meet The Mukherjees (Bolton Octagon Theatre); White Boy (National Youth Theatre/Soho Theatre); Sugar Mummies (Royal Court Theatre); Gladiator Games (Sheffield Crucible Theatre); Hobson’s Choice (Young Vic); Fragile Land (Hampstead Theatre); Inside Out (Clean Break); Sanctuary, Brecht’s The Good Woman Of Setzuan and The Waiting Room (National Theatre); Skeleton (Soho Theatre); A River Sutra (Indoza).Television credits include: Doctors, London Bridge, All About Me, EastEnders, Grange Hill, The Bill, Flight, Banglatown Banquet, Our Lives As Animals, The Fiancee and Bideshi.Radio credits include: The Goldilocks Zone, A Passage to India, Trumpet, Death of a Matriarch, The Home and The World, Emma (Adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel), Writing The Century, Bindi Business, Song Of The Road, The God Of Small Things, Baby Farming and Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.In 2008 she was awarded an MBE for Services to Drama and in 2016 was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Tanika has an honorary doctorate in the Arts from Chichester University and is an Honorary Fellow at Rose Bruford College and Central School of Speech and Drama.For more information: www.tanikagupta.com

Rachel Mars is a writer and performer based in the UK. She has been working at the cross-over of performance art and theatre for 13 years. Her work explores female, Jewish and Queer identities and their intersections.  Her recent performance work includes Our Carnal Hearts, a choral dissection of envy; Your Sexts Are Shit: Older Better Letters, a queer archive of sex letters; Roller, with Mars.tarrab, an interrogation of female aggression for 7 women and Story #1/#3, a collaboration with Greg Wohead on radical narrative.She won a Total Theatre Award and an Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award. She has performed all over the UK and internationally, including recently at Barbican London, Brisbane International Festival, Brighton International Festival, Fusebox Festival Austin, On The Boards, Seattle.

Stephen is an actor, teacher and director and has worked in theatre for the past 26 years. A long time collaborator of Told by an Idiot, he has performed in a total of seven of our shows and has been part of the research and development team for many more.Stephen has worked at the National Theatre on War Horse and Theatre of Blood and the RSC on A Mouse and His Child and Merry Wives of Windsor as well as touring extensively throughout the UK and internationally with Little Soldier, Improbable and Told by an Idiot.Directing credits include Cabaret of Blood and co–director of All You Need is LSD for Told by an Idiot, Flat Pack for OH Productions and I Had a Black Dog for Smallnose Theatre.Stephen is also a key member of our Taught by an Idiot practitioner team, teaching in academic settings, leading community projects and making work with underrepresented theatre makers across the UK and internationally. He has most recently directed 3 short silent films as part of our The Silent Treatment participation project, inspired by and delivered alongside our production of The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.In 2021, Stephen formed Corned Beef Croissant Theatre Company, who have recently performed as part of the Worthing Theatre Trail, held an a research and development period on The 13 Labours of Popeye and ran a programme of slapstick workshops.

From a background of sculpture, Sophia creates installations, sets and objects for audiences and performers to inhabit, manipulate and transform. Much of her work is participatory and interactive, collaborating with artists in theatre, dance and music and with the general public.Recent work includes: Would You Bet Against Us? (Told by an Idiot, Birmingham Rep); Space to Be (Oily Cart); Get Happy (Told by an Idiot, Barbican); All You Need Is LSD (Told by an Idiot, Birmingham Rep); The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Kneehigh Theatre, Bristol Old Vic); The Paper Man (Improbable Theatre, Norfolk & Norwich Festival); Journey to the Impossible (Little Soldier Productions, The Bike Shed Theatre); And The Horse You Rode In On (Told by an Idiot, Barbican, Brighton Festival, Theatre Royal Plymouth); 16 Singers (Katherine Morley, Dance Umbrella, Theatre Royal Bath); Phenomenal People (Fuel, WOW Festival); In This Place (Pentabus Theatre); A Crash Course in Cloudspotting (Raquel Meseguer Zafe, MAYK, Coventry City of Culture 2021, Unlimited, Camden Alive); Parallelist (Clay Gold & Laura Moody, Aldeburgh Festival).

Dennis Mortimer was born in Liverpool April 1952 and his professional football career spanned 721 league, Cup and European games. He was captain of the Aston Villa team which won the 1st Division Championship in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982.Dennis' career began at Coventry City F.C. in 1967 with a 3 year apprenticeship. Dennis signed his first Professional contract in 1969 and transferred to Aston Villa in 1975 for £170.000, after which he transferred to Brighton and Hove Albion and then to Birmingham City. He was also loaned to Sheffield Utd in 1984/85. After retiring from Professional football, Dennis had positions at the PFA and the FA.

About Omar ElerianOmar Elerian is a freelance director, dramaturg and theatre-maker. Italian of Palestinian descent, Omar trained in Italy and then graduated from Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris in 2005.He was the resident Associate Director at the Bush Theatre from 2012 to 2019, where he commissioned and directed some of the theatre’s most successful shows. Omar is currently developing projects with Manchester International Festival, National Theatre, Royal Court, Collective Malouba and The Shed in New York.Theatre includes: As Director: The Chairs (Almeida); Misty (Bush Theatre/ West End); NASSIM (Bush Theatre/ Traverse Theatre/ World Tour); Going Through; Islands; You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy (Bush Theatre); The Return of Danton (Munchner Kammerspiele); The Mill: City of Dreams (Freedom Studios). As Associate Director: The Royale; Leave Taking; Perseverance Drive (Bush Theatre).

Lolita Chakrabarti OBE is an award-winning playwright and actress.Her adaption of Yann Martel's Booker prize winning novel Life of Pi for the stage, premiered to 5-star reviews at the Sheffield Crucible in July 2019 and opened in London's West End in November 2021. It has been nominated for nine Olivier awards including Best New Play, won four UK Theatre Awards and the WhatsonStage award for Best New Play.Lolita’s original play Hymn streamed live from The Almeida during the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 and opened to audiences in July that same year.Her adaption of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities premiered at the Manchester International Festival before transferring to Brisbane Festival. This ambitious production was a collaboration between Rambert dance company, 59 Productions and Lolita.In 2012 Lolita’s debut play Red Velvet premiered at the Tricycle Theatre in London. It returned to the Tricycle in 2014, before transferring to New York and the West End. Red Velvet was nominated for nine major awards including two Oliviers. Lolita won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, The Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and the AWA Award for Arts and Culture.She curated The Greatest Wealth at the Old Vic in 2018, commissioning eight monologues of which she wrote one, about the NHS on its 70th birthday, which was updated in 2020 to play online and reflect the pandemic, featuring a new monologue by Bernadine Evaristo starring Sharon D Clarke.In 2020 Lolita was dramaturg on Message in a Bottle for ZooNation and Sadlers Wells and is dramaturg on ZooNations’ forthcoming Sylvia.In 2020 Bloomsbury published Adrian Lester and Lolita Chakrabarti: A Working Diary which followed a year in their working lives.Other writing credits The Goddess for Woman's Hour BBC Radio 4 and Last Seen Joy for the Almeida.As an actress credits include Vigil (BBC1), Showtrial (BBC1), Wheel of Time (Amazon), To Provide All People (BBC2), Delicious (Sky One), Born to Kill (CH4), Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands (ITV), Vera (ITV), Jekyll and Hyde (ITV), My Mad Fat Diary 3 (E4), Death in Paradise (BBC1), One Night (BBC1), The Smoke (Sky1), Outnumbered (BBC1), J K Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy (BBC1/HBO), Riviera (Sky Atlantic), Criminal (Netflix), Defending The Guilty (BBC), WPC Blake in The Bill (ITV), Fanny & Alexander (Old Vic), and Hamlet directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh (RADA).Lolita also co-produced Of Mary, a short film directed by Adrian Lester, which won Best Short Film at PAFF, Los Angeles.

Phil Belfield has a BA in Drama & Theatre Studies from Middlesex University. He worked in a number of arts organisations including the NT, Lyric Hammersmith, Riverside Studios & Royal Court. He then helped set up the Stage Holding UK office and assisted Matthew Bourne at Adventures in Motion Pictures (now New Adventures) for 6 years before joining Cassie Mayer Ltd as a junior agent in 2000, and then as an agent for BBA from 2004.

London International Mime Festival (LIMF) is an established, annual festival of contemporary visual theatre. Essentially wordless and multi-disciplinary, its programme embraces circus-theatre, puppetry/animation, object theatre, mime, live art and physical theatre.Founded in 1977 at the Cockpit Theatre as a one-off event to showcase the work of British mimes, theatre clowns and other physical and visual theatre artists, the festival rapidly grew in scale, quality and reputation. Since that start in one small theatre, LIMF has used more than thirty London venues – from Tate Modern, a private house and West End theatres, to the Royal Opera House, Almeida, Barbican, ICA, Sadler’s Wells and Southbank Centre. To date, the festival has presented over 800 productions over its 46-year history.LIMF assists in the creation and presentation of excellent, innovative non text-based theatre that is new to London. Most shows are UK premieres. It works with young, up and coming artists as well as established companies. LIMF has an international reputation and is the UK’s longest established annual, international theatre festival. In recent years the festival’s productions and its two directors have received various honours and awards, most notably three Olivier Award nominations including winner of Best New Dance Production in 2015 (Peeping Tom’s 32 Rue Vandenbranden at The Barbican), a Total Theatre lifetime achievement award and most recently the 2017 Empty Space – Peter Brook Special Achievement Award.

Lisa is an actress, writer and theatre maker. She has worked regularly with Told By an Idiot performing in Shoot me in the heart, A little fantasy, Beauty and the beast and Too clever by half. She has also worked with Improbable on No idea and The hanging man. Other theatre work includes The National Theatre, Trestle, The RSC, Graeae and many other regional and international theatres and companies. She was a regular character in “Eastenders” (BBC) from 2014-2018 her other tv credits include Vera (ITV); Patricia (Sky Atlantic); One Night (BBC); Psychoville (BBC); Max and Paddy’s Road to nowhere (Ch4); Where the heart is (ITV). She has also featured in the BBC’s genealogy programme Who do you think you are?Lisa has appeared in the following Told by an Idiot shows: Shoot Me In The Heart, A Little Fantasy, Beauty and the Beast and Too Clever By Half

Sophie Scott CBE is a British neuroscientist and Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London (UCL). Her research investigates the cognitive neuroscience of voices, speech and laughter, and she is very interested in how our the neural basis of human vocal communication. She was the 2017 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturer and she was awarded the Royal Society's Michael Faraday prize and lecture in 2021. Sophie is the Divisional Director for Equity Diversity and inclusion in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at UCL. The documentary mentioned in this episode is here. 

Jos Houben is internationally acclaimed as a leader in the field of Comedy and Physical Theatre.Performing, writing, teaching, and directing world-wide for the past 30 years he has worked with leading international organisations and artists including: Peter Brook, Ecole Jacques Lecoq, The Right Size, Georges Aperghis, Theatre de Complicite- Simon McBurney, National Theatre London, Ragdoll Ltd, Thames TV, Opera North, Centre National Des Arts Du Cirque, British Council and Opéra Comique.He has received the prestigious Perrier Comedy Award (1986, Theatre de Complicite) and Olivier Award for Best Entertainment (1999, The Right Size). Houben’s one man show The Art of Laughter has been touring the word for the past 12 years. He has played month long stints to sell out audiences at the prestigious Rond Point Theater on the Champs Elysees three years in a row. The show is such a success that Jos was featured on the front page of France’s Le Monde and interviewed on national news channels. In 2016 Jos did comedy directing for the hit West End musical Girls and toured extensively with the comedy duo Marcel. He directed Czech Physical Theatre Company Squadra Sua’s new hit show Crossings which opened to wide acclaim in Prague in May 2019.He is currently preparing two Operas for the Opéra Rennes and Opera Caen as well as a new movement based show with contemporary dancer Raphaelle Delaunay. 

Jason Barnett biog:Theatre includes:  THE VISIT (National Theatre), INSTRUCTIONS FOR CORRECT ASSEMBLY, THE VICTORIAN IN THE WALL, FRIDAY NIGHT SEX, PRIMETIME, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (all Royal Court Theatre), SAINT GEORGE & THE DRAGON, EMIL & THE DETECTIVES, WAR HORSE, AMATO SALTONE (all National Theatre), LIFE OF GALILEO (Young Vic), ABOUT A BOY (Young Vic and tour), MOGADISHU (Manchester Royal Exchange), THE WINTER’S TALE, PERICLES, DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE (all RSC),  THE FIXER (Almeida Theatre), CRUISIN’ (The Bush) , JOHN DRYDEN’S TEMPEST (Shakespeare’s Globe).  Television includes:  BRIDGERTON, AGATHA RAISIN (Series 1-4), LEE & DEAN, HAILMAKERS, PORRIDGE, BLISS, JONATHAN CREEK, JOSH, DEATH IN PARADISE , THE JAVONE PRINCE SHOW, PHONESHOP, BAD EDUCATION, STAGE DOOR JOHNNIES, HOTEL TRUBBLE, THE BILL, EXTRAS, COMING OF AGE, DEAD RINGERS, DREAM TEAM and LITTLE BRITAIN  Film includes:  LONDON ROAD, CINDERELLA, SUPERBOB, ONE MAN AND HIS DOG, THE SIGHT

Omari trained at the Arts Educational Schools, London, graduating in 2015.His theatre credits include Rush at the King’s Head Theatre, Peter Pan and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Clarke Peters Five Guys Named Moe at the Marble Arch Theatre, Kneehigh’s Tristan & Yseult at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Life at the Southwark Playhouse, Annie Get Your Gun at the Sheffield Crucible and High Society at the Old Vic.Omari returned to the Old Vic to perform in Emma Rice’s adaptation of Wise Children, the inaugural production for her new company of the same name. The production then toured to several cities around the UK.Omari can currently be seen as one of the leads in Russell T Davies’ new 5 part series It’s A Sin for Red Productions/Channel 4/ HBO Max.

Internationally renowned award-winning actress and director, Kathryn was born in New York, grew up in England, read French and Drama at Bristol University then trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. As an actress, she has worked with leading companies worldwide including Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe and Peter Brook's renowned CICT Centre International de Recherches Theatrale company in Paris as well as being an associate member of the acclaimed Theatre de Complicite Company. Her many leading and award-winning appearances include title roles in, RICHARD III, KING LEAR, ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, YERMA, MOTHER COURAGE and the acclaimed solo performance KAFKA'S MONKEY. She received an Olivier BEST ACTRESS award for THE VISIT (Complicite/RNT). Film and television credits include HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, Mike Leigh's ALL OR NOTHING, ORLANDO, THE BABY OF MACON, MARIA'S CHILD and THE TALE OF TALES. Directing credits include MY PERFECT MIND, OTHELLO (RSC), THE BIRDS (RNT), COMEDY OF ERRORS and PERICLES (Globe Theatre).

Emma Rice is the proud Artistic Director of her company, Wise Children, and an internationally-respected theatre-maker and director. For Wise Children Emma has adapted and directed the productions, Angela Carter’s Wise Children, Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers and Romantics Anonymous.As Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe (2016/18), she directed Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Little Matchgirl (and Other Happier Tales).For the previous 20 years, she worked for Kneehigh as an actor, director and Artistic Director and created critically acclaimed productions including The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Tristan & Yseult, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, The Wild Bride, The Red Shoes, The Wooden Frock, The Bacchae, Cymbeline (in association with RSC), A Matter of Life and Death (in association with National Theatre), Rapunzel (in association with Battersea Arts Centre); Brief Encounter (in association with David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers Productions); Don John (in association with the RSC and Bristol Old Vic); Wah! Wah! Girls (in association with Sadler’s Wells and Theatre Royal Stratford East for World Stages); and Steptoe and Son.Emma received Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre award at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards. Acclaimed for her vision, wit and warmth, she is one of the most dynamic and influential directors working in contemporary theatre today.

Aitor is an acclaimed performer, teacher and clown, as well as a Co-Founder of Spymonkey. Performing credits include: The Servant of Two Masters at Sheffield Crucible (1996), Axomate at the Seville Expo (1992), Eulenspiegel (1991) and in Karl’s Kuhne Gassenchau’s Grand Paradis and Stau in Zurich (1997 and 1998). Director of Little Prince for Donkey Productions (1997), Un Vento Impetuoso for La Canoppia (1996) and Meci Y Me Fui for Pez Enraya ( 1997). In 1999 he appeared in Circus Knie, the Swiss State Circus, and in 2000 formed his own company Punto Fijo, based in Bilbao. Appeared in Cirque Images’ 2003 series Solstrom for Bravo Cable Network. Aitor appeared in Bertold Brecht’s Senor Carrera’s Rifles at the Young Vic, directed by Told by an Idiot Artistic Director Paul Hunter (2007). Directing credits include: ‘Lily & Marlene’ for La Dinamica (Spain 2015); ’Looking for Duende' for Teatro Entre Escombros (Spain 2015); ’Hondycops' for Squadra Sua (Czech Republic 2015); ’Ferucchio Peru is Extraordinaire’ for Leebo Luby (UK 2015); Manifest Destiny (New York 2015); Fabulous Bäckström Brothers (Finland 2014); Entre Escobros '600 Teatro' (Spain 2014); 'Gloriator' for Skipstick Productions (London 2013); 'NMIIDP' Simone Riccio, (London 2013); 'Herr Ist Immer Der Natur' for Die Drei Auf Den Baum (Berlin 2012); 'Discombobulated' for Publick Transport (Bristol & UK tour, 2011); 'Ramshackadelicious' (Bristol 2011); 'Shake' for The Last Baguette (Switzerland 2010). 

Amanda has appeared in two Told by an Idiot shows: The Firework-maker's Daughter and Playing the Victim. 

Described in The Observer as “a remarkable pianist by any standard”, Zoe has firmly established herself as one of the brightest stars on the contemporary jazz scene. She won a MOBO Award for best Jazz Act in 2012 and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for her 2006 album Melting Pot, which also won Jazz Album of the Year at the UK’s first Parliamentary Jazz Awards. A vibrant and highly individual pianist and composer, her style is deeply rooted in jazz yet it reflects her classical background, British/Bengali heritage and her very broad musical taste. Known for her powerful technique, wide-ranging imagination and exuberant performance, she has become a highly sought-after musician, working with the likes of Courtney Pine, George Mraz, Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA Orchestra, Martha Wainwright, among many others.Zoe studied classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, took a music degree at Oxford University and then won a scholarship to study jazz performance at Berklee College of Music, Boston. Zoe has collaborated with Told by an Idiot a number of times over the years, most recently composing the wonderful piano score for The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. https://www.toldbyanidiot.org/the-strange-tale-of-charlie-chaplin-and-stan-laurel